Above: Surfers' Paradise's Q1 building.
Queensland’s state and opposition governments are stoushing over claims that the planning authority had stipulated a minimum of 60 20-storey high rises be built in Brisbane each year.
State minister for infrastructure and planning, Stirling Hinchliffe, has labelled the claims “bogus”.??“There is no requirement in state planning, legislation or policy for any specific number of 20-storey buildings, anywhere,” Hincliffe said.
“Contrary to opposition claims, we don’t believe councils plan to support disproportionate development,” he said.
Urban growth will be accommodated through existing and future infill opportunities and a variety of housing including separate dwellings, duplexes and multiple dwellings, he said.
However, shadow minister for infrastructure and planning, David Gibson, reacted with by claiming that Labor’s attempts to contain future growth was “up in the air”.
A dozen Q1-style skyscrapers would have to be built every year for the next 21 years to accommodate infill targets, the LNP declared.
The state government has “failed to do the most basic maths”, Gibson said.
"Under this government, the [South East Queensland (SEQ) regional plan is suffering a massive credibility gap with the industry that is expected to build Labor’s towers having no confidence in the proposal.”
The SEQ regional plan states 156,000 new dwellings are required in Brisbane alone, with 138,000 of these to be high-density units, apartments or flats.
"Will we see 1,725 20-storey buildings squeezed into the suburbs or is the Bligh government expecting more than 250 Q1-style towers to be constructed in the next 21 years?
"Minister Hinchliffe must provide some detail of how this plan will work because what the Bligh Labor government is asking Queenslanders to accept would make the Dubai apartment building boom look tame in comparison," Gibson said.
Queensland Property Council chief, Steve Greenwood, said that while his association supported urban infill, SEQ regional plan was too ambitious.
